ON LOVE; PART DCCCXCV
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12)
It IS perhaps the reality of Love, a reality that IS clearly framed for us by the Master and which IS both clarified and amplified by His apostles, that most confounds men in this world today. It IS Love that IS the great KEY which, while this may sound contradictory to our words from the last post, IS NOT. Love IS the greater part of keeping His words and, as the Apostle Paul shows us, in Love ALL other Truths in His words ARE accomplished. It IS the common understanding of this word that confounds men and it IS in the strongholds built by the doctrines of men that the Truth of Love IS imprisoned. It IS in the overall view of Life, especially spiritual Life, that the deeper Truths ARE hidden and it IS this view that IS covered by the mysteries and the parabolic manner of teaching that IS employed by the Master and by His apostles. And it IS this view that IS unlocked by the reality of Love as the Master shows this to us in His words on the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule that we repeat again at the top of our essay.
While doctrines make excuses for the wording that we have above, the reality IS that this IS become a stronghold where the words of the Master ARE deemed to mean ideas which ARE convenient to the lives of the men who formulate and profess such doctrines as the Truth of His words. While the view of Love varies by doctrine and by denomination and sect, the result of seeing Love ONLY in a most carnal sense, which IS NOT what IS intended, has been posing as the Master’s Truth for 2000 years. This IS much in the same way that these same ideas languished in Judaism from the days of Moses who first presented them as the guiding Light for the Jews. Much of the current Christian problem in understanding and practicing the Love that the Master teaches can be found in the carrying over of the Jewish doctrines and traditions into the New Dispensation of the Christ, a carrying over that the Master and His apostles teach against but which ideas go unrealized yet today.
We should try to see here how that the strict dividing line between the carnal and the spiritual that IS presented by Jesus and His apostles has also been confounded by the doctrines and the traditions of the Jews and by the clever interpretations of the Old Testament as a guide to the Truth, a guide that IS contradicted by Jesus own words, but IS still used by many yet today. We could go on and on regarding the divergence of doctrines from the Truths that the Master teaches us as there ARE so many ways that men have erected the very strongholds that the Apostle Paul speaks against; strongholds that obnubilate the Truth of His words in favor of the more convenient rites and rituals propagated in the early church and the clever interpretations of His words and the words of His apostles. Here we should remember that it IS the vanity, the illusion and the glamour of Life in form, that IS responsible for men’s ways in this world, ways that ARE seen as the greater Truth by the man whose focus IS upon the things of the self and the self in this world. It IS the change of vision, the change of focus that comes in the reality of Repentance, that causes a man to see more clearly the spiritual side of Life and it IS in the revelations and realizations that this change brings that the Truth IS found.
It IS Truth alone that can dispel the illusions: it IS Truth alone that can overcome the sense of vanity which we should see as Vincent paints this for us saying: the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. It IS Truth alone that can bring men closer to God which IS a realization that ONLY comes to the man who Truly seeks Him. It IS Truth that comes to the disciple as we read in Jesus’ words below; it IS Truth that comes by measure through the revelations that come to the man who will keep His words and this Truth IS the very grace of God….the very Presence of God in the conscious Life of the man in this world. And it IS Truth that will set men free…free from the wiles of the devil which IS the ways of the world. This IS the reality of discipleship and in the fullness of this a man will find the fullness of the Truth as his realization of ALL things spiritual; this IS the fullness of spiritual discernment and the revelation of the mysteries of Life and of the Kingdom of God. Jesus tells them “which believed on him“, which idea should be understood in the deeper idea of keeping His words as Lord, of the reality of discipleship; we read again:
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:31-34).
This IS the reality of Truth and the reality of being set free, of being delivered from the ways of the world, and we should see here how that this begins in the way that the Apostle John IS framing this idea: that it IS to those “which believed on him“, those who DO keep His words by measure. that will KNOW the Truth. It IS to this man who will accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4 and who will “continue in my word” that will find this reality of Truth and the reality of being set free. Here we should remember that this word that IS rendered as “make you free” IS the same Greek word that IS rendered as delivered in those sayings from Paul that we so often repeat saying: “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope expectation, Because that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21).
Can we see here how that it IS the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, that ensnares men in this world and holds them captive and that it IS the Truth what will deliver them from the strongholds that they have created for themselves….strongholds that ARE the carnal thoughts and ideas of men which “exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“. Jesus shows men the way out of the quagmire of Life in this world as He tells us of Love and keeping His words as the KEY to the freedom and there IS NO shortage of sayings that point specifically to these ideas. It IS every doctrinal idea and every idea of the “natural man” that rallies against these Truths of keeping His words and Love that fortifies the strongholds and strengthens the hold that such illusions have upon the Life of everyman. It IS in this sense that men are imprisoned by these same strongholds of belief and doctrine that they have formulated while believing them to be their key to salvation rather than the Truth of Jesus own words. Can we see here the circular pattern that men have created and which IS become their own spiraling prison; a prison that IS formed in those strongholds, those beliefs which ARE contrary to the Master’s words, and then strengthened by these same beliefs which ARE deemed to be the Truth but which ARE but the product of the vanity to which they are subjected. And this IS the context of Paul’s words below; that there ARE strongholds that must be pulled down and that this “pulling down of strong holds” IS only done by those spiritual tools, those weapons which “are not carnal” but which come to men in the revelations of Truth which come in keeping His words; we read again:
“the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
It IS one’s realizations of Truth that ARE “mighty through God” because it IS these realizations that ARE from God through the God and the Christ Within. It IS this realization of Truth that IS the Presence of God in one’s Life which comes, according to the Master’s words, by keeping His words. Again, this IS the KEY to our being free: keeping His words which IS accomplished in the Truth of Love, IS the Way, the ONLY way to one’s realization of True salvation. And this IS, in its fullness, the reality of being “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. This liberty, this freedom of deliverance, IS the Kingdom of God, this IS the fullness of discipleship and this IS the fullness of the Truth that come in the Presence of God in one’s Life. We read the Master’s words again:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless:a I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:15-24).
It IS in the revelation that it IS Love that accomplishes ALL things that we should find the deepest meanings of the Master’s teachings as well as the fullness of the teachings of His apostles. It IS the Truth of Love that IS the ONLY weapon needed for “the pulling down of strong holds“. This pulling IS in essence a man’s ability to see through the illusions and the glamour and to be able to, by measure, claim with the Master that “I have overcome the world” (John 10:30). It IS by measure that the “natural man“, the man who DOES NOT yet see this Truth of Love as the KEY to being free, can come to the fullness of His Truths and it IS by measure that one can come to the realization that he IS yet the “natural man“. And this IS the illusive paradigm; that in order to overcome the illusions, in order to come to some measure of realization, one must come to see that he IS yet the “natural man“; a Truth that IS against men’s own tightly held strongholds of belief.
As Paul tells us about the reality of Love in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, we should be able to see and to measure the importance that IS placed upon this idea of agape; an importance that rings clearly in his words which show that without Love his own words ARE but noise; an importance that tells us that without agape ALL of his own revelations of Truth and of KNOWING leave him as though nothing IS revealed; and an importance that tells us that without Love ALL that he may DO that can be considered as religious and spiritual IS of NO spiritual use to him as a Soul in this world. This IS our view of the apostle’s words, a view that shows us that regardless of what one may believe of himself spiritually, that ALL IS for naught without Love….without agape. And we should understand that these words reflect upon the lives of everyman and ARE NOT ONLY the apostle’s self evaluation as in Truth he DOES Love. And here we should try to see the Master’s own words that reflect upon the DOING of what one may consider as religious while NOT keeping His words on Love and it IS in this dynamic of DOING that we find the crux of Paul’s ideas on faith versus the law; a dynamic that has been allowed to one of the greatest of doctrinal strongholds.
Paul shows us that to speak in or with tongues, or to speak in any way that alludes to the Presence of God in one’s Life, IS but noise in the absence of Love. The apostle tells us that prophecy and understanding the mysteries of Life and of the Kingdom, “the knowledge of God” if you will, has NO spiritual benefit and leaves a man a he was in this world in the absence of Love. And he tells us that ALL of the Charity of giving, ALL of the forsaking and ALL of the religious rituals that one may perform ARE profitless without one’s expression of Love. This IS the deeper reality of his words that IS missed by so many as he tells us: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). In these words from the King James Bible we see the rendering of agape as Charity and in this alternate view we should try to see the deeper ideas embedded in this Greek word that IS generally rendered as Love.
When we can understand that it IS in Love that we ARE Truly keeping His words, when we can see that the reality of prophecy and tongues and “the knowledge of God” ARE the privilege of the man who keeps His words, that these come in the grace of God….in the revelation and the realization of His Presence, and that it IS in the fullness of this Presence that one can “remove mountains“, then we can understand the Truth of the grace and the Presence of God as the Master presents this. ALL else IS but a faint carnal rendition of these Truths. It IS in this light that we should see that ALL outward agreements that a man may have according to the sense of the law, ALL giving, ALL forsaking and ALL rites and rituals that men believe bring them closer to God ARE ALL for naught in the absence of Love….there IS ONLY keeping His words in Love.
In the apostle’s words we should see his amplification and his clarification of those most misunderstood words from the Master which tell us that to “enter into the kingdom of heaven” one must “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. While most ALL doctrines try to paint this in ways that benefit the psyche of men in this world, it against this very painting that the Master continues to speak and this IS the reality that the apostle shows us above. It IS in the clever creations of men that ideas such as this from John Gill easily obscure the Truth of keeping His words which IS the KEY to True salvation and which IS in ONLY achieved in Love as the apostle shows us above; we read: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven; This, as it may regard private Christians, intends not merely outward obedience to the will of God, declared in his law, nor barely subjection to the ordinances of the Gospel; but more especially faith in Christ for life and salvation; which is the source of all true evangelical obedience, and without which nothing is acceptable to God 8. Can we see here how that doctrines such as this ARE contrary to “the knowledge of God” and how that Paul’s ideas above serve to enhance the fullness of the Master’s words which we read again saying:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Live in joy, without possessions.
Like the shining ones.
The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers.
Let go of winning and losing and find joy.
There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.
Today’s Quote of the Day is from the Dhammapada (on JOY)5; a collection of the sayings of the Buddha. These words and ideas ARE much the same as those we discuss in our In the Words of Jesus essays. And what is this freedom but the release of our hearts and minds from loving this life in this world and attaining the Presence of God. This word Joy has many meanings as DOES the idea of Love, but in the context that it IS used here we should see the idea that Joy IS Love, Joy IS health, Joy IS peace and that Joy IS without the burdens placed on a man by the illusion and the glamour of the ways of the world. We should try to see that it IS the antithesis of these ideas in hate, in affliction and in troubles that ARE among the possessions of the carnal man, that ARE among the “evil treasure of his heart” (Luke 6:45) according to the Master.
And it IS in the second stanza above that we see the basic psychic ideas that can eliminate the harm caused by such “evil treasure” as a man looks past himself and at the welfare of others which IS the greater reality of Love as the Master teaches us. It IS in losing such possessions, losing such carnal thoughts and attitudes, that one can truly find the “joy of freedom“….this IS the Truth of deliverance.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 5 The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
